Waiting for Godot

Tools

San Francisco in the '60s, Cleveland in the '70s, Seattle, Minneapolis and Athens, Ga., in '80s sometimes a local scene erupts in a magical explosion of creativity, energy, originality and attitude. Unfortunately, in Colorado Springs, that ain't happening. The local music scene tends to be unadventurous, fashion-driven and one-size-fits-all.

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Nick Santa Maria

Downtown

Carpet installer

Who's your favorite local group? None, at the moment. It used to be Colonial Excess, but they broke up.

Characterize the local music scene. Bars feature cover bands, but house shows and The Black Sheep host harder-working bands who do original stuff. I'm starting to see the scene build up again after being dead for awhile more kids starting bands, more venues popping up, more kids in the scene.

What's the best spot for music locally? The Black Sheep brings in touring bands, and Everyday House is good for the underground bands. All the most memorable shows I've seen were in the High Life House basement. R.I.P.

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Jay Kita

Woodland Park

Engineer

Name your favorite local group. I haven't been to a live music show in a couple years. Partly lack of time, partly lack of opportunity.

What's the worst thing about the local scene? The diffuse nature of the community. There's not much going on. Before coming here, I lived in Burlington, Vt., whichhad a very busy and lively downtown.

What's the best place for music you've seen? Burlington had a very active music scene, several bands with potential for going on. Phish came out of there. Since it was an easy drive between New York and Montreal, we saw a lot of acts on their way from New York, to Boston, to Montreal. They'd stop over on Thursday to make travel money.

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Sarah Garcia

Southeast

Assistant manager of music store

What's your favorite local group? Leer43. They're a really, really talented group. I went to high school with the singer.

Describe the local music scene. Weak. Kids thatfollow whatever's instyle. There's not much validity.

What's best and worst about it? The worst is that most kids are in it only for the fashion. The best is that feeling you get at a show, with everybody's fist in the air and you feel it come over the room, that everybody's in that one place at that one time for that one reason.

What's the best local venue for music? The Black Sheep, definitely. They help hook locals up with some of the national touring bands.

What's the best place for music you've lived in? b>London. I lived there for two years. The crowd was pretty much up for anything and they'd dive into the show whole-heartedly. Chicago was good, too.